A serial killer seeks refuge with his sister's family in the small town of Santa Rosa, California; Janet Leigh decides to stay at the Bates Motel; a spy hangs by a literal thread from the top of the Statue of Liberty; Cary Grant leads Eva Marie Saint across the Presidents' huge stone faces on Mount Rushmore: These celebrated moments from films directed by Alfred Hitchcock indicate how deeply he immersed himself in the culture of his adopted country, where he reached his maturity as an artist. This course, "Hitchcock's America," will examine how the Master of Suspense responded to the Hollywood studio system, using it to comment incisively on the social and cultural conditions of mid-20th century America, while juxtaposing the public spaces and private terrors of a nation in flux.
Access course materials by linking to the appropriate handouts:
2. Books on Reserve at the SSU Library
3. Films on Video on Reserve in the SSU Media Center
4. Hitchcock: Films and Cameo Appearances
5. Hitchcock: Themes and Style of Filmmaking
7. Hitchcock: Filming Sites and Points of Interest in the U.S.